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CEO Elon Musk by now must have an idea what the phrase "what have you done for me lately?" means.

In 2013, the maker of electric cars posted its first profit. The shares surged. Established automakers such as established teams to study Tesla.

That seems like a long time ago. On May 7, Tesla posted a first-quarter non-GAAP first-quartr profit and reported record production of Model S electric cars. Now, it was a net loss, but investing in Tesla is supposed to be about the future and net loss figures tend to get discounted. The non-GAAP profit figure even exceeded estimates.

How did the market react? The shares fell more than 7 percent after the market close, as the company's 6,457 Model S deliveries didn't match the highest analyst estimate, according to Bloomberg. The shares extended their slide throughout the main trading day on May 8, declining 11 percent.

Musk, on a conference call with analysts, spent much of his time looking forward. He talked up Tesla's prospects in China and the company's $5 billion gigafactory battery project. If you're the stock of the future, you talk up the future.

For example on China, "We don't have any kind of demand challenge," he said. The Palo Alto, California-based electric-car maker has to limit China shipments or else "it would starve" other regions. Musk again said Tesla wants to make vehicles in China in three to four years.

"My instructions to the California team are to spend money as fast as they can without wasting it," the CEO said.

On the battery project, Musk said Tesla will be "breaking ground on multiple sites," the first as early as next month. The idea is to work on multiple sites to ensure the project makes a 2017 start date. Musk also said Tesla's home state is now in the running but said raised questions whether California regulators can provide timely approvals. The company has said it's looking at sites in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.

What's more, Musk talked up the delayed Model X utility vehicle, intended to help start diversifying Tesla's lineup. It was supposed to be out late this year but now won't debut until 2015.

"There's no question we're delayed on Model X," he said. But he promised "a sharp" rise in output once production begins.